Friday, September 20, 2024
Eskom and energy and chemical enterprise, Sasol, have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to "collaboratively discover and study potential potential liquified natural gas (LNG) requirements".
That is based on a joint statement by the two providers, following the signing ceremony of the MoU on Friday.
"The collaboration aims to determine the possible volumes that South Africa needs to determine a feasible LNG import marketplace, together with the enabling infrastructure, and can be facilitated by govt-to-authorities relations where important."
"This initiative focuses on employing gas for electricity generation to deliver crucial base load electricity and position gas being a vital enabler of re-industrialisation, whilst also guaranteeing ongoing supply to the industry by unlocking world LNG resources.
"Furthermore, the collaboration will contribute to enhancing South Africa’s energy mix and enable the country's energy transition and decarbonisation," the joint statement read.
The MoU is expected to "explore sourcing gas within South Africa, the Southern African Development Community region, and other parts of the African continent, in addition to evaluating long-term LNG contracting".
"This will support the gas requirements for Eskom’s planned coal power station repowering and conversion to gas in the long term. The parties will also engage other state entities to enable an LNG value chain in South Africa.
"As part of its revised gas strategy, Sasol is working on enabling the future supply of LNG to South Africa by collaborating with companies such as Eskom, existing and future customers, suppliers, and infrastructure developers.
"The research findings from the first phase of the Sasol-Eskom collaboration will guide the necessary role players and investors required to offer the best prospects for South Africa's energy market, while eskom vacancies outlining the challenges associated with the long-term commitments required for LNG imports," the statement said.